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Aim of the course To understand the basic theoretical issues concerning construction and utilizing psychological tests. To acquaint student with the fundamental vocabulary and logic of psychological measurement and behavioral assessment. To understand logic of design and psychometric properties behind any psychological test.

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This course is a LECTURE which means that presence in class IS NOT IS NOT MANDATORY. If you can read and understand assigned literature you should pass the exam – around 70% of the exam questions will be based on assigned basic literature Expectations and Class Etiquette

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Our responsibility (as instructors) to you (as a students) is to help you reach your full potential. As such, you may expect the following from us: We will come to class on time We will have your tests quickly graded We will listen to, and carefully consider any well thought out question or concern you have about grading, or any other aspect of the class We will treat each one as a university student. That means the responsibility for doing well in this class lies with you, but We shall endeavor to assist you Expectations and Class Etiquette

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In order for this class to be a success, and for you to get as much as possible from it, We expect at least the following from you: You will come to class on time You will not hold idle conversations during the lectures You will not use mobile phones, game consoles or any other stuff that is not necessary for participating in class You will not eat in the class In your dealings with any person in this class, you will conduct yourself, always, with a minimum of respect, making sure to make your contributions in a manner that is neither rude nor offensive Expectations and Class Etiquette

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There will be two summative exams: midterm and final worth in total 60 points. – Midterm exam (25 points) will cover material from lectures 1 – 6 – Final exam (35 points) will cover material from lectures 7 - 15. – Retake will cover all material. Exams will consist several multiple choice and open ended questions covering material from the literature and lectures. Grading

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Extra Credit Individual assignment worth additional 3 points. Short paper on selected topic. Select one of five proposed construct and create a draft of the tool to measure it. Deadline – last class. Notice: Your paper is to be the product of independent work. Plagiarism is unacceptable and will result in an automatic FAILURE (even thou it's an extra credit).

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Extra credit Choose one psychological construct (e.g. altruism, verbal intelligence). Write a report (2-3 pages, APA style) and provide: – 10 items assessing the construct – Which response type would be best for your test? – Which method of determining reliability would be most adequate for your test? (justify your claim) – Describe three possible studies that might examine the validity of your test – base on the psychological literature, scientific articles, studies reports. -more details can be found on the course page-

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Psychological constructs to choose 1. Sensation Seeking is a trait defined by the search for experiences and feelings, that are varied, new, complex and intense, and by the readiness of experiencing those physical, social, legal, and financial experiences.

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2. Altruism is a concern for the welfare of others. Altruism is the opposite of selfishness. It can be distinguished from feelings of duty and loyalty. Altruism is a motivation to provide something of value to a party who must be anyone but the self, while duty focuses on a moral obligation towards a specific individual (for example, a god, a king), or collective (for example, a government). Pure altruism consists of sacrificing something for someone other than the self (e.g. sacrificing time, energy or possessions) with no expectation of any compensation or benefits, either direct, or indirect (for instance from recognition of the giving).

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3. Math anxiety is an emotional reaction to mathematics based on a past unpleasant experience which harms future learning. A good experience learning mathematics can overcome these past feelings and success and future achievement in math can be attained.

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4. Optimism is a mental attitude that interprets situations and events as being best (optimized), meaning that in some way for factors that may not be fully comprehended, the present moment is in an optimum state. The concept is typically extended to include the attitude of hope for future conditions unfolding as optimal as well. This understanding leads to a state of mind that believes everything is as it should be, and that the future will be as well.

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5. Verbal intelligence is the ability to analyze information and solve problems using language-based reasoning. It is associated with the ability to listen to and recall spoken information; understanding the meaning of written or spoken information; solving language based problems of a literary, logical, or social type; the ability to perform complex language-based analysis.

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Open-ended / essay - Cons Hard to score Can yield great variety of responses Not efficient to test large bodies of content If you give the choice of three or four essay options, you can find out what people know, but not what they don't know

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Multiple Choice What could be measured: abilities, knowledge personality, prefernces. Which scale of measure is used? More answer options (4-5) reduce the chance of guessing that an item is correct Difficult to write four or five reasonable choices

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Likert like scale What can be measured: personality, all constructs assessed with self-report methods. Which scale of measure is used? Involved in research that employs questionnaires. Named after its inventor, Rensis Likert. The range captures the intensity of respondents feelings for a given item.

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4. Mark anywhere along the line to show how much do you like to wake up at 7 am? It’s horribleIt’s terrific

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Graphic rating scale What can be measured: prefernces. Which scale of measure is used? Respones are converted to numerical form. Also: semantic differential, e.g. hot-cold.

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5. Complete: Toe is to Foot as Finger is to ______? Gas is to Car as Wood is to ______?

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Supplied Response What can be measured: knowledge and fact outcomes, terminology, formulas. Which scale of measure is used? Chances of guessing reduced.

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What is a psychological test „An evaluative device or procedure in which a sample of an examinee’s behavior in a specified domain is obtained and subsequently evaluated and scored using a standardized process” AERA et al. 1999 „Test – objective and standardized measure of a sample of behaviour” Anastasi (1988) „A psychological test is a systematic procedure for obtaining samples of behaviors, relevant to cognitive or affective functioning, and for scoring and evaluating those samples according to standards” Urbina (2004)